Arny Krueger wrote:
"John Atkinson" wrote
in message
oups.com
I Googled Iain Churches' discography of commmercially
released recordings. It's an impressive-looking list,
including several albums that I own. By contrast, in an
earlier posting, Mr. Krueger, you told me that none of
your recordings are commercially available. Is this what
you mean by comparing yours and Mr. Churches'
achievements as recording engineers on a "level playing
field"?

John I suggest that you study up the recent postings before you
leap off into this abyss.

I did do so. None of what I read convinced me that Iain Churches was
anything orher than a professional recording engineer or that you,
with all due respect for your efforts in this area, are not

The short story is that Church was apparently a staff engineer at
a large recording company. Obviously, he was not the sole producer
of the recordings he has credits for.

So what? All commercially produced recordings are a team effort, with
the engineer being primarily responsible for capturing the sound, with
all that entails. I have attended many such sessions over the decades,
both as an observer and as a musician; it is clear that the engineer is
practising the same specific art that you claim to do..

Being a staff engineer at a large record company isn't that much
different from slapping on fenders on at a car plant. In both cases the
working environment is usually highly pre-defined, and each worker
has responsibility for only a small portion of the quality of the
finished product.

No. I have worked as a musician on sessions with Alan Parsons,
the late Peter Bown of Beatles and Pink Floyd fame, and Jerry
Boys of Buena Vista Social Club fame. TA the time I did so, all
were staff engineers at the record company or studio. All
operated within the team with autonomy when it came to
capturing the sound, just as you do when you make recordings,
Mr. Krueger.

That makes the comparison not apples-to-apples.
But arguments like these are generally lost on wage slaves.

Of what relevance is this comment? While I, for example,
currently work for an employer, I have also co-owned my own
company and worked as an independent contractor. My
attitudes to the skills of the engineers I mentioned did not
change when my own status changed.

If you wish for a "level playing field," Mr. Krueger, when it
comes to comparing yours and Iain Churches' skills and
status as recording engineers, then I guess we will all
have to wait for some of your own recordings to become
commercially available.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile